The bathroommate!

Casper loves his morning walks/runs and he will wake you up. He basically comes and licks all over your face till you are about to drown, slobbering as he licks. Though it is mostly Akanksha, I do get the face-baths sometimes. One such morning, I went in the bathroom to wash my face and then was to take Casper out.

“Damn rat!” I called out. Akanksha woke up wondering what was wrong.

“A rat probably was running around in the bathroom last night. My shaving foam bottle, brush, razor, all your tubes are fallen down. We need to do something about these…… HEY! LOOK AT THAT!!”

“What?”

“Loooook at her!” There she was. A female Polypedates maculatus, the Common Indian Tree Frog. I forgot all about the mess in the bathroom. She was beautiful!

Cozy hangout on my hair cream bottle.

She looked really cozy on top of my hair cream bottle. What a pleasant morning that was! These frogs are known to use the same roosting place for a long time. She started spending days here and at nights she’d be out hunting. She didn’t seem to get bothered by any activities. We started wishing her “good morning” and “happy night out”. She was the first thing we would look for the moment we enter the bathroom every morning. She was now part of our daily life; our very own bathroom-resident froggy!

One night we heard ‘things’ falling down in our bathroom.

“That rat is back again”

I rushed in …. but then came out laughing…! Froggy was happily hopping from one shelf to the other! So it was her the other night and I was blaming a rat. Now the mess was looking so cute!

I was thinking of a name for her. One evening Akanksha just randomly said “Your Champa is sitting on the flush tank”. She lovingly calls female individuals ‘Champa’.

“Hey that’s a nice name for her!” And so she was named Champa.

One morning I went in the bathroom, washed my face and was about to greet Champa, but she was nowhere to be seen.

“Akanksha, have you seen Champa?”

“No”

She did not come for the whole day. We were very worried, especially with predators like snakes, shrews, Casper? around. Is she gone forever??? I was a bit upset that evening.

Next morning I was yawning as I went in the bathroom.

“Akankshaaa!!”

“What?”

“Champa is back!”

I was so happy. She was back. She often stayed out for a day but was always back the next day morning. We were used to her ‘routine’ now. She is pampered at times. Once there was this grasshopper that hit the fan and was half dead. It was the perfect dinner for Champa! Click here to see what I did!

It was an awesome experience. Champa is now more or less a permanent resident and we love her company. But a few days back she did not come back for one night or the night after that or the night after that. Three nights in a row is not good news at all. I was hoping she’s safe and alright. Thoughts were discomforting. I was up till late night hoping she’d come back but she didn’t.

Next morning, I found my shampoo bottle, tooth paste, deo and the shaving foam bottle scattered on the floor.

The bathroom was in a mess.

She is back! :)